Olie used the potty to go pee for the first time! Though I don't think this counts as full potty training cause his diapers were already off in preparation for a bath, this is a breakthrough nevertheless. Usually Olie just pees in the bath soon after he gets in. Admittedly when he went in his training potty, pee went everywhere. But I've never been so happy to clean up a mess!
Here-to-for my potty training efforts have been minimal, not much more than getting him his own little seat. Now I guess we'll have to start for real!
Looking out window.
Bubble Bath
And since I'm here, I suppose I'll take this opportunity to catch you up on other Olie developments. The reason for my absence and the activity that has consumed the family this fall has been, DUN, DUN, the pre school application process. Chad, Olie and I (either all or just some of us) have had four school visits this week alone! That's because Olie has applied to 8 pre schools (now just to add some perspective here, I only applied to 3 colleges). And each school has a minimum of 3 visits (an open house, a parent tour, an interview or a group play) and some have 4! It's grueling.
Chad and I are a wreck, but Olie remains unphased and is now talking up a storm. He says full sentences now, but in a very deliberate and humorous manner with a lot of emphasis and pauses. For example, "I'm.. EaTing... MYYYY DINner," or "Mommy... Wheeere AaaRE You?' One of my favorite things that O's has picked up is repeating what the sign says in Danny and the Dinosaur, "Brush your teeth, every day." Oliver also constructs whole narratives. The other night as we were looking out the window at the dormant construction site across the street, Olie remarked. "It's night time. Workers ARE home....Eaating with FAmily. Diggers resting. Red light means NO Go." Or in the bath today he imagined that his mommy duck was both proud of her babies and sad because they were riding on the boat instead of her. Olie has also picked up some of our bad habits. Though both if us are careful with what we say to Oliver, I guess we're less so with the dog. The other morning Olie couldn't get his trains under a bridge and he exclaimed, "So Annoying!" This I say to Bella when she won’t come. He's also very perceptive of mood. When I called to Chad yet again to come to dinner being what I thought was careful not to portray too much emotion, Olie said, "So annoying!" My thougth exactly. He also said the other day, "Bella, knock it off." (That's from Chad.) Today as I was looking at him closely he said, " Please... Get Out... of MYYYY face." (No idea where that came from.)
Olie is also obsessed with babies (which is a good thing). Whenever he's playing with his animals or making sticker art (real crayons are out cause he still eats them), he's careful to put the mommy with the babies or otherwsie group like things into families. When Oliver says "baby" he does so in a tiny voice with his pointer fingers together and his shoulder scrunched as if to gesture "small" and "cute." It's sooooo funny. Furthermore Olie is quite nurturing, feeding his animals and putting them to bed. The other day, Fozzy Bear got the full treatment with a blanket, pillow, toys and even a Row, Row, Row Your Boat lullaby. He’s also very loving towards his friend Bella, though he does sometimes go a little overboard. Before visiting her, he will remind himself to be restraighed saying, “Bella, no tackle.” One of the cutest things I’ve ever seen is Olie and Bella running down the street together on the way to the Museum of Natural History, holding hands the whole way.
Oliver can now reliably count to 5 and often ten. He recognizes many letters by site. He knows his last name and my name ("Juh Shine") and Chad's. Oliver still loves reading; favorite books now are "Danny and the Dinosaur" and "Frog and Toad Together." Mind you, these books are both about 60 pages long. They may only have a few sentences per page, but that's still a long narrative for a 2-year-old to sit through. I've also come to understand that Olie is even more active than your average 2-year-old. He really keeps us busy. Oh, and Olie gets out of his crib now. Bedtime has been extra fun these past 2 weeks. We’ll think the coast is clear when suddenly hear the patter of little feet. “Awake!” he’ll proudly announce.
Other things that happened this summer that I don't think I mentioned.
Every night that Chad was away we would call him before bed. And every time, even if Chad was still at work, Olie would demand that he sing "The Wheels on the Bus." Chad didn't really know the words so he came up with things like, "the doors on the bus go Clickity Clack Clack." It got so every night Olie would simply hear Chad's voice on the phone and hed yell "Cickity cack!"
Olie was also a regular water rat. He had no problem walking in right up to his neck, blowing bubbles, or even putting his hands in the sand at the bottom and letting the rest of his body float behind. "I'm Foating!" he'd exclaim.
Worn out après zoo.
The new bike was a hit.
The Gang.
